Freedom Project

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Freedom


caption =
ja_name =
ja_name_trans =
genre = Science fictionInfobox animanga/OVA
title =
director = Shuhei Morita
studio = Sunrise
episodes = 7 + 1(prologue)
released = 24 November 2006 - 23 May 2008
runtime = Various (ranged between 25 and 50 min)

"Freedom Project" is a Japanese promotional project by Nissin Cup Noodles for their 35th anniversary in 2006. As part of the project, the 7-part OVA series, titled "Freedom", was commissioned with Katsuhiro Otomo — the creator of "Akira" and "Steamboy" fame — serving as the character and mecha designer. The director of the series is Shuhei Morita, creator of the award-winning animation short "Kakurenbo". The series openly flaunts product placement of the corporate sponsor in numerous scenes where characters are shown consuming Nissin Cup Noodles

The OVA is animated and produced by Sunrise and distributed by Bandai Visual. It is being distributed in North America by Bandai Visual USA http://www.bandaivisual.us/products.html. "Freedom Committee" is the collective term used for the entire creative team behind "Freedom", which includes animators and production staff members who have previously worked on "Steamboy".

The theme song for the series, titled "This is Love", is performed by popular Japanese pop singer Utada Hikaru. A second song, Kiss & Cry, Utada Hikaru's 19th Japanese single, was used for Nissin's 5th television commercial for Freedom, which began airing in Japan from 20th April 2007.

Marketing

As with most other major film and animation releases in Japan, a wide array of promotional merchandise was marketed before and during the OVA's release, including Nissin Cup Noodles with lead character Takeru printed on the lid, small desktop figurines, a 4 flavours Nissin Cup Noodles bundled Freedom DVD gift set, a limited Nissin Cup Noodle container and badges designed by video rental outlet Tsutaya that came free with the purchase of "Freedom 1", among tie-ins with other retailers. Although "Freedom Project" is a direct-to-video (DVD) animation, it stands apart from conventional OVA series first by the involvement of Otomo, and also from the collaboration with Nissin Cup Noodles resulting in extensive TV advertising scheduled to run through the duration of the series until its conclusion with "Freedom 6".

Publicity for the series began April 11, 2006, with large banners and posters featuring concept sketches of the lead characters Takeru, Kazuma and their vehicles lining Tokyo's busiest train stations, such as Shibuya and Shinjuku — the latter being the busiest railway station in the world with 3 million transiting passengers every day. These initial pencil-work posters were later replaced by fully coloured, CG created versions with finished background art, giving the effect of a work-in-progress animation piece being completed.

At the same time, 30-second television spots were shown on TV — short trailers providing a glimpse of the story to unfold in "Freedom 1". The 5th advertising spot is currently being shown on Japanese television [April 20th, 2007] , and reveals major plot advances from "Freedom 3". Some of these spots were made available on the limited-edition "Freedom Previsited" DVD (see release notes below).

A special "Freedom Project" page, a collaboration between Yahoo! Japan and Nissin, will also stream every episode of the series one week before its DVD release date.

Print ads showcasing Katsuhiro Otomo's sketches for the OVA were also released in magazines nation-wide. Shortly before the "Freedom 1" DVD release, many popular media, manga and animation magazines ran articles for the OVA, featuring mecha design descriptions and interviews with staff members.

The largely successful publicity campaign for "Freedom Project" was very well-received by fans of Katsuhiro Otomo and animation fans in Japan, who saw him returning to his strengths of designing stylish mecha and memorable characters.

It seemed that Otomo was concerned with the production of this work overall and was the director at first, but was over for participation only for character and mechanic design after all.According to the announcement of Nissin side, nonparticipation of Otomo is on schedule, Otomo confesses having resigned this work, or has refused the comment with some magazines [ [http://www.narinari.com/Nd/2006116768.html 大友克洋が「FREEDOM PROJECT」を降板？　その噂の真相は。(Did Katsuhiro Otomo resign from "FREEDOM PROJECT"? The truth of the rumor is .) Narinari.com] ] .

tory

"Freedom Project" is about a child, Takeru, discovering a secret that could change the very society he depends upon. Civilization on the Earth was destroyed by a permanent abnormal climate shift. Cities with millions of people had been built on the far side of the Moon and became the only place where humanity still survived. The remaining population declared the foundation of Republic Eden, then set forth expanding those lunar colonies that loved peace and freedom.

More than 160 years have passed since then. In Eden, children complete their compulsory education program when they are 15 years old. They are then integrated into the society as citizens. During their brief moratorium they are granted freedom. Like other boys, Takeru decides to take part in a race with his friends using machines particular to the moon, called “Vehicle”. But what distinguishes Takeru is that he has constructed his own vehicle. When his vehicle catches fire on a public road he is sentenced to 15 hours of "volunteer" work outside the dome, where he discovers the remains of a small crashed capsule bearing photographs and articles seemingly sent from Earth. Structures visible in the background identify the location they were taken as the Kennedy launch facility in Florida.

Infatuated with a young woman in the photograph, Takeru attempts to research conditions on Earth and finds that the library's information on the home planet is heavily censored. Furthermore, nobody is permitted to travel far enough from the dome over the lunar surface to get within visual range. He discovers a small enclave of people living in a facility outside of Eden's centralized control, and after befriending the enclave's leader is given access to a moon rover with sufficient range to get a view of Earth. He sees that the Earth is blue; it has recovered from the disaster that befell it and is now habitable again. The authorities of Eden pursue Takeru, attempting to suppress this discovery, but Takeru and his friend Biz manage to commandeer an old 'escape' rocket and leave Eden to explore Earth first hand.

The escape rocket's capsule comes down slightly off course, landing in the ruins of Las Vegas, and Takeru and Biz use Takeru's vehicle to make the overland trek across the United States.

Characters

* Takeru — "Age:" 15 "Height:" 170cm A third-generation moon-dweller with a big appetite for Cup Noodles, Takeru has a warm and cheerful personality but is somewhat shy with girls. Takeru has a fascination for visiting the Earth. (Voiced by Daisuke Namikawa.)

* Kazuma — "Age:" 15 "Height:" 175cm A close friend of Takeru, Kazuma is the quiet and cool type. He has a younger sister Chiyo. (Voiced by Morikubo Shotaro.)
* Bisu — "Age:" 15 "Height:" 160cm Close friends with Takeru and Kazuma, Bisu has an introverted nature. Although not an accomplished rider, he is an ace with vehicle mechanics.

* Taira — "Age:" 15 "Height:" 171cm A Tube Race rival that Takeru met and lost out to in "Freedom 1". Taira is an extremely accomplished rider and leader of the Tube Racers group called Moon Shine.

* Junk — The owner of Moonraker, a garage found in Eden. This was where Takeru's vehicle was repaired and modified in preparation for the Tube Race in "Freedom 1".

* Aran — A senior member of Freedom living in the subterranean levels of Eden's domes. He provides the high-powered engine for Takeru's damaged vehicle after his disastrous challenge with Taira. Aran also dons an Apollo jacket similar to the one worn by Takeru. His name is likely a reference to US Astronaut Alan Shepard.

* Chiyo — Kazuma's younger sister.

* Gosshu — A member of Moon Shine.

* Naomi — A member of Moon Shine.

DVD release

"Freedom Previsited", a special limited-edition DVD that was released on October 27, 2006, features a 6-minute prologue of "Freedom" as well as various staff interviews, and was quickly snapped up by eager fans upon release, many by preorders made through online websites. The DVD is now officially sold out.

"Freedom 1", the first episode from the series, was released on DVD on November 24, 2006.

"Freedom 2" was released on February 23, 2007.

"Freedom 3" was released on April 25, 2007.

"Freedom 4" was released on July 27, 2007.

"Freedom 5" was released on October 26, 2007.

"Freedom 6" was released on January 25th, 2008.

"Freedom 7" was released on May 23rd, 2008.

On January 9th 2007, Bandai Visual announced "Freedom Project" as a title in its first wave of sub-only releases on HD DVD to be released in the US in Summer of 2007. (June 26th, 2007)

Blu-Ray release

On July 7 2008, Bandai Visual has announced a Blu-Ray disc box of all 7 episodes, due to be released on November 11 2008, complete with English subtitles. [ [http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/pdf/2008/pr080707.pdf ２００８年１１月よりＢｌｕ－ｒａｙ Ｄｉｓｃ世界同時発売スタート！「ＦＲＥＥＤＯＭ　Ｂｌｕ－ｒａｙ Ｄｉｓｃ ＢＯＸ」] ]

Books

Shogakukan has published several books related to the "Freedom" franchise under its "Gagaga" books line up.

nihongo|"Freedom: Footmark Days"|FREEDOM フットマークデイズ|FREEDOM Futtomaakudeizu is a series of 3 novels which follows Kazuma's, one of the main characters, side of the story. It is a side-story that runs parallel to the main storyline, and also introduces characters not seen in the anime (ISBN 9784094510072, ISBN 9784094510386, ISBN 9784094510676).

"Freedom Scenarios" delves into the making of the anime OVA series. It is written in Japanese and divided into 2 books, 0-3 and 4-7 respectively. [ [http://www.gagaga-lululu.jp/gagaga/lineup/freedom1.html 小学館::ガガガ文庫:FREEDOM SCENARIOS 0→3] ] [ [http://www.gagaga-lululu.jp/gagaga/lineup/freedom2.html 小学館::ガガガ文庫:FREEDOM SCENARIOS 4→7] ] Both books contain scenarios (the script for each episode), interviews with writers, production crew, voice actors, concept and production art, and a detailed encyclopedia for terms related to "Freedom" (ISBN 9784091064103, ISBN 9784091064172).

References

ee also

* "Akira" (film)
* Otomo Katsuhiro
* "Kakurenbo"

External links

* [http://www.bandaivisual.us/freedom/index.html "Freedom Project" official US site] (English)
* [http://freedom-project.jp "Freedom Project" official site] ja icon
* [http://streaming.yahoo.co.jp/special/anime/freedom/ "Yahoo Japan's special Freedom Project page"] ja icon
* [http://halcyonrealms.com "Halcyon Realms" Weblog of Freedom Committee CG artist]